Calibrating the tilted scale: (re)constructing fairness in fair wage discourse |
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| Authors: | Zhuo Ban |
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| Institution: | Department of Communication, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA |
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| Abstract: | Guided by the practical question, ‘What is a fair wage?’, this paper takes a culture-centered approach to the discursive construction of a fair wage in the context of industrialized labor. Specifically, this study juxtaposes discursive constructions within (a) corporate social responsibility (CSR) communications concerning wage policies and practices and (b) industrial workers’ narratives about their experiences with wages. Thus, I demonstrate a mutually constitutive process in which the meaning of ‘fair wage’ results from and reifies the structures of supply chain labor. Specifically, I explore how wage fairness is understood in the context of legal and government mandates, international organizations’ recommendations, and the issue of labor sustainability. The culture-centered emphasis of the study explores the possibility of bringing alternative voices to mainstream articulations of labor rights. |
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| Keywords: | Fair wage corporate social responsibility culture-centered approach supply chain labor |
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